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With the iOS5 software and the new iPhone 4S device, Apple has another world-class hit on its hands. This sleek, highly refined pocket computer comes with everything—cellphone, iPod, Internet, camcorder—except a printed manual. Fortunately, David Pogue is back with the latest edition of his witty, crystal-clear, colorful guide: the world's most popular iPhone book.

Use it as a phone.Learn the basics as well as time-saving tricks and tips for contact searching by voice, texting, and more.

Manage your stuff in the cloud.Sync and back up your contacts and media across all of your devices with iCloud.

Product Description

About the Author

David Pogue, Yale '85, is the weekly personal-technology columnist for the New York Times and an Emmy award-winning tech correspondent for CBS News. His funny tech videos appear weekly on CNBC. And with 3 million books in print, he is also one of the world's bestselling how- to authors. In 1999, he launched his own series of amusing, practical, and user-friendly computer books called Missing Manuals, which now includes 100 titles.

Customer Reviews

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298 reviews

67 of 69 people found the following review helpful

Top notch reference source for iPhoneOct. 3 2008

By
John A. Suda
- Published on Amazon.com

Format: Paperback

For those who already know of David Pogue's Missing Manual series there is hardly any need to read a review of any of the latest publications, like "iPhone, the Missing Manual, Second Edition." For those in need of a written guide to the iPhone, you just buy the book and enjoy it, without wasting any time with comparisons, reviews, or undue deliberation. You can trust the author and publisher. For years, Pogue Press', the Missing Manual series, has been a benchmark of quality for the genre. In an era where manufacturers provide skimpy support materials, the Missing Manual series acts as a great substitute.

For those unfamiliar with the series, I'll elaborate on the iPhone book. It is a great book. It is designed to tell you in an objective casual, easy to follow fashion, all you need to know about using your iPhone. It is lavishly produced in heavyweight glossy paper with high resolution full-color graphics. The text is larger sized and organized in a very easy-to-read layout. There are many dozens of sidebar "Tips" which break up the text and make learning about the iPhone very easy.

The best part of the book is the content where you get a very thorough, comprehensive, and well-organized presentation of the iPhone hardware, software, and services. In six parts and fifteen chapters, Mr. Pogue covers nearly everything an average user needs to know about the product. There are plenty of sections covering advanced topics, as well, including use of the iPhone in a business setting. Part One is a guided tour to the hardware and how to get started making calls and texting. In this chapter and throughout the book, Mr. Pogue gives more than mere description and explanation of features, he provides step-by-step instructions and practical guidance on use. In the first chapter, for instance, he provides an experienced user's perspective on how to be more efficient using the virtual keyboard.

Part Two discusses the music and video features and the camera and photo capabilities. Part Three explains how to get online using the multiple means - 3G, 2G (Edge-ATT's older, slower system), and WiFi using the web browser and e-mail programs. The author provides handy references to useful websites and third-party applications which can run on the iPhone and extend its capabilities, like the Zoho suite of productivity applications and RSS readers. The next part covers the third-party software now available for downloading from the Apple site. The App Store is explained and a lot of the applications are briefly reviewed and evaluated. Pogue also describes how to install custom ring tones as well as making one's own using Apple's own Garage Band.

In the "Beyond the iPhone" section, Pogue covers the all-important syncing features and options, the Mobile Me support services provided by Apple, the iTunes symbiosis with the iPhone, and the customer settings options. Three appendices cover setup and signing up, suggested accessories, and troubleshooting and maintenance.

67 of 70 people found the following review helpful

Just when you thought you knew everything about your iPhone 4!Sept. 1 2010

By
Diana De Avila
- Published on Amazon.com

Format: Paperback
Verified Purchase

I have been an iPhone owner from the first generation of them. Admittingly, I was not completely pleased with the first gen of iPhone's because it felt lacking with so few applications available (unless it was jailbroken). It was a cool device at the time, but I found the Blackberry Curve a little more beholden to my likes and needs ... that was until the 3G, 3Gs and now the iPhone 4 with iOS4 came along. A completely different brand of machinery and intelligence.

I love David Pogue's Missing Manuals. My tech bookshelf is lined with his familiar green covers that range from Apple applications and OS's to Windows Operating Systems. He just writes a good book that is accessible to both the beginner and the expert. There is always more to learn.

I have been waiting patiently for the release of this book and was thrilled to get it. The iPhone iOS4 can get as complex as you want it to. Even if you are an advanced techie or iPhone user, this book will STILL have something in it so that you will feel you've gotten your dollar's worth. There are several iPhone books out there now but I am going with the tried and true Pogue book because I know and appreciate his writing and presentation style. The content is not so dry and boring that it loses you -- he writes in a very engaging manner and he can reach the novice and expert alike.

The book is printed on nice coated paper with beautiful, clear screen shots. I bought the book so that I could delve into iMovie for iPhone. At first I was a bit disappointed that it was not addressed more in depth until I read into the section more and discovered that he is offering a download that explains the use of iMovie. This book is filled with resources like that.

Besides learning a lot from the book and taking your iPhone to it's max usage and getting the most out of it ... you are also provided with further jumping off points that allow you to delve into areas that interest you more. For me that's iMovie. Just an example.

For the money you've put into buying your iPhone and potentially extra apps, a resource like this will stretch your dollar even more by helping you to get the most use out of it.

I am an iPhone 4 first adopter who dealt with the "death grip" (he even addresses that in the book). I feel like I have a pretty darn good grasp on this piece of hardware but also know that there is much more to be learned.

I love David Pogue's books and this one really does not disappoint.

5 stars!

61 of 64 people found the following review helpful

Fantastic iPhone resourceAug. 27 2007

By
Jack D. Herrington
- Published on Amazon.com

Format: Paperback

As easy to use as the iPhone is it still has some secrets up it's sleeve and this is where "iPhone: The Missing Manual" comes in really handy. The book goes step by step through the basics of the phone, mail, browsing and the iPod functionality, as well as all of the other handy applications. And with each of those I found something I had missed along the way.

In addition to handling the basics he also has a lot of handy tips about special numbers to dial, the differences in the various email services, and handy keyboard shortcuts that have allowed me to get much more out of the phone.

This book is definitely worth the money, and I think it's a must have for anyone who has just bought an iPhone. If it's worth several hundred dollars to get the phone. It's worth another $14 to find out how to use it right.

36 of 36 people found the following review helpful

A great full color instruction guide for the iPhone 3GS, 4, and 4S on AT&T, Sprint, and VerizonJan. 9 2012

By
B. Wilson
- Published on Amazon.com

Format: Paperback
Verified Purchase

David Pogue and his team have done it again with the iPhone Missing Manual, 5th Edition, for all iPhones using iOS 5.0.1. This is a terrific full-color book with hundreds of screen captures and illustrations. The topics are logically introduced and explained for the new iPhone user and there are details and secrets of iOS 5 for those who have been using the iPhone for several years. The Missing Manual covers the differences in the iPhone 3GS, 4, and 4S models as well as the idiosyncrasies between iPhones using AT&T, Sprint, or Verizon when there is a difference. (If you haven't upgraded your iPhone 3GS or 4 to the free iOS 5, instructions are included for doing the upgrade.) The instructions are not all dry and dull as there is a lot of humor in the book (such as "You don't have to say "call" or "dial" in English. The iPhone recognizes the equivalent words in 32 languages. Collect them all!" (page 94)). One of the best features of "The Missing Manual" is that it does not go out-of-date, even as Apple releases updates to iOS 5. Page 5 of the book describes the website where you can find errata, corrections, and updates for the book. And be sure to see the inside back cover for "The Missing CD".

The book is extensive in that it covers pretty much all aspects of using the iPhone: phone calls, FaceTime (video calls), texting/messaging, email, Siri (the virtual assistant using voice recognition), settings, how to use the built-in apps (programs), how to find more good apps, navigating with GPS, maps, the camera (taking photos and shooting HD videos), editing photos, the iPhone as an iPod--playing multimedia (including playing music, TV shows, movies, and more), reading ebooks, surfing the internet, iCloud, WiFi connections, tethering (connecting the iPhone to your laptop to access the internet), finding your iphone and locking it remotely if you misplace it (set up this feature before you think about losing your iphone), syncing with your computer and/or corporate network, printing (AirPrint), troubleshooting, accessories, and a lot more.

The section on Siri (the virtual assistant on the iPhone 4S) may expand the ways that you use your iPhone. There are more than 250 sample questions and commands for Siri. Some examples are: "call Mom at work," "play more songs like this," "Tell Cindy I'm running late," "Show yesterday's email from Jan," "Reply, Dear Jan,...," "Where's the closest gas station," "How do I get to the airport," "I'm hungry for some pizza," "Remind me to ... when I get home," "Google Benjamin Franklin," "Convert $23 to euros," "Graph x equals 3y plus 12," or "What is the meaning of life?" There are also advanced commands for posting to Facebook or Twitter. [Note: the iPhone 3GS and 4 also have some voice control features.]

I just recently got my first iPhone. I thought all Apple products were supposed to be very user intuitive, so I didn't know there was a secret undo command which is to shake the iPhone (page 57). I really appreciated the keyboard tip on how to select numbers and special characters with only one key press (page 49). My phone locked up once and would not turn on, so it was time to read "Reset: 6 Degrees of Desperation" on page 504. And I had managed to avoid using iTunes up until now, so I'm still trying to learn all the details about syncing the PC with the iPhone when you have 50 gigabytes of media and a 16 gigabyte phone (Chapter 13). The Missing Manual states that iTunes copies contacts and calendars in both directions during a sync. But the Manual didn't explain why after I deleted about 8 contacts on my iPhone, iTunes wanted to delete 77 contacts on my subsequent sync. Nor did the Manual explain why iTunes was taking more than an hour to sync my Solitaire app.

This is the fifth Missing Manual book that I've purchased, and it may be the best.

52 of 54 people found the following review helpful

Best iPhone intro book, good 4S coverageDec 30 2011

By
D. Coral
- Published on Amazon.com

Format: Paperback
Verified Purchase

Wow I love this book, it covers all the aspects of the iPhone 4S (and prior models), not just the software. For example a sidebox talks about what the Gorilla glass screen is made of, and there are explanations about where the various sensors are located (do you know where the proximity sensor is?), the antenna band, etc. This book is up-to-date and comprehensive - there are 21 pages devoted to Siri, an 11 page chapter just for iCloud, and info regarding iOS5 throughout (better coverage than the other books I've seen so far). The appendix contains some interesting sections on accessories and troubleshooting. If you have an iPhone 4S or an older model iPhone running iOS5, then this is a must-have book, especially for the price you can't go wrong!